


Language of Flowers

by TeasingIt



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: M/M, plantboy!Gavin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-21
Updated: 2015-09-21
Packaged: 2018-04-22 16:59:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4843277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeasingIt/pseuds/TeasingIt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryan has started to work for Roosterteeth, which isn't quite a normal job as it is- however, one of his coworkers in particular catches his attention, thought perhaps not just because the man seems to be half-plant...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Language of Flowers

**Author's Note:**

> Plantboy!Gavin used to be a thing about a year or so ago, and since it's like my favorite AU I wanted to bring it back :) Shoutout to my lovely beta who helped finesse this a lot, Nequais~ <3

Ryan hadn't been told about one of his odder coworkers until after he started working for Rooster Teeth. There  _were_  hints…

When he was interviewed, Burnie and Geoff asked him if had any severe allergies, or any pertaining to flowers and plants - a question he found strange at first, considering as far as he knew his job was to be an indoor one, but he didn't think much on it. He told them other than a few instances of hay fever, he didn't have any problems with anything of the sort. That pleased them.

He finally understood as he was introduced to some of the people at the office: a few of the animators, Michael, Jack, and Lindsay. Then Geoff led him outside to meet Gavin, his apparent pseudo-son that he mentioned maybe once or twice to him. He didn't quite understand why Geoff suddenly seemed hesitant to introduce him to the younger man unlike the others, but when they came across him sitting contentedly in the sun outside the office, Ryan certainly felt like he understood.

Gavin was a lanky, but relatively tall man with dirty blond hair that ruffled wildly in a short crop atop his head, like golden flax. His hair complimented his tanned skin and forest green eyes that revealed themselves as he opened them, a wide smile coming over his lips as he scrambled to stand up. Ryan found himself utterly charmed in a single glance, and quirked his brow as he noticed the not-so humanly features of the man as he approached.

His skin had little patches of ivy-green and dirt-brown tints and small little sprouts that sprung from his arms, the nape of his neck, and head- one even stuck out from the collar of his shirt. All over his head were little four-petal white flowers with yellow centers that dotted his hair, making Ryan think at first that maybe someone had just dumped a handful of flowers on him. That was, until new flowers blossomed in their wake and Ryan stared at the lovely five-petaled blue flowers that bloomed in front of his eyes.

Geoff coughed lightly and brought Ryan’s attention back as Gavin turned to him, and Ryan tried to focus more on the friendly smile on the younger man's face rather than the fact that he was seemingly half-plant.

"You're Ryan?" Gavin inquired cheerfully, but his face cautious, the blue flowers now overtaking the number of the white ones.

He held out a hand graciously and after a moment's hesitation, Ryan shook it with a returned smile. He nearly yelped when a flower popped up on the back of Gavin's hand, and blinked confusedly at it as Gavin apologized.

"Sorry, I don't control where they pop up." He told him, shrugging his shoulders in a somewhat apologetic gesture.

Ryan looked to Geoff, swallowing nervously at the pointed look he got in return before he turned back to Gavin.

"No, it's fine, er-"

"Gavin,” the other man said, at least giving the Ryan the assurance of knowing he got the name right.

"Gavin." He parroted, nodding his head. "Nice to meet you."

"Well, Gav, I got to go show Ryan around some more, so you can do what you were doing or whatever. I don't plan on filming anything today and you're done with that editing, right?" Geoff questioned, Ryan right behind him.

Gavin nodded with a smile and Geoff clapped a hand to his shoulder.

"Then I'll see you in a little bit, bud. We're going to Jersey Mikes for lunch, okay?"

Gavin's face lit up a bit and as Ryan and Geoff turned to go back inside, Ryan caught a glimpse of little clearish-green berries popping up alongside the flowers as Gavin watched them go.

He was pulled from his staring, quite literally, when Geoff yanked on his arm.

"Don't stare." Ryan was met with Geoff's very serious expression and it was honestly a little intimidating, and he nodded curtly. Geoff let him go and walked ahead.

"Geoff," Ryan spoke up, albeit a bit hesitantly, and the older man paused. "What, er... Are those flowers a part of him?" He trailed off, nervously awaiting being chewed out for being insensitive or uninformed, but Geoff merely sighed.

"Yeah. He's basically like half-plant. The flowers and shit come and go with his mood, I think, like those white flowers? Don't know what they're called but Gavin gets them whenever he's relaxing or napping or whatever. He's telling the truth, though, he can't control them." Geoff said the last part firmly, and Ryan held up his hands.

"Oh, I believed him! I was just wondering. I've never seen anyone like him."

Geoff eyed him and Ryan waved his hands, quick to start fumbling over his words.

"I don't mean that it a bad way! It's actually pretty cool!" He blurted out, embarrassed when Geoff just started to laugh. He was just so thrown off by Gavin- in more ways than one- that he wasn't being very articulate.

"No, I get it, I had never met anyone like him before either. Frankly, I’m sure half-plant people don't or rarely exist; Gav's always telling me how when he was younger no one could figure him the fuck out and he hated it because he felt like a lab rat when they were running all these tests for the sake of science. Luckily his parents saw it was making the kid miserable. Apparently it was a lot of shit to go through, though."

Ryan frowned, feeling bad that the younger man had been subject to that. Geoff must've caught it, because he waved his hand dismissively.

"But that was a long time ago. Gavin doesn't like talking about it; even though he likes talking about every goddamn thing in the world since he never seems to shut up. But he's great, really."

Ryan figured as much, but he got to find out himself as he settled into the office and ran into Gavin occasionally, often seeing him in bright moods with a variety of different flowers. After their first encounter and what Geoff had told him, Ryan had gone home and done a little research- after all, the flowers all had a meaning if he had heard right, so with his curiosity he couldn't help but look some up.

He had found that the charming little white flowers that were already blooming when they first met were Houstonia, tiny little flowers that were said to symbolize contentedness. He figured it had to do with Gavin relaxing outside, and he smiled a little- it was an absolutely intriguing phenomenon. After some time trying to recall the others, he had found the baby blue flowers to be Periwinkles, a flower meant to represent early friendship. His smile grew at that, thinking that perhaps Gavin must have taken a shine to Ryan just as he to him. But that was just jumping to conclusions, he decided, as he couldn't find any flowers that meant 'meeting' or 'greeting'.

The last one he looked up were the berries, confused by their presence and almost absolutely certain they had no meaning until he stumbled upon an expansive website that seemed to include the berries he was looking for: Gooseberries, which stood for anticipation. It thoroughly baffled him, flummoxed as to what would cause Gavin to suddenly grow these berries. After some thinking, he figured it was either the anticipation of working with Ryan in the future, or the anticipation of going to Jersey Mikes with Geoff later that day. Ryan figured it was the latter, but nonetheless, his curiosity of his new coworker warranted seeing Gavin more.

~~~~~

Eventually, Ryan was included more and more in the Let's Plays, integrating into Achievement Hunter as the sixth member, happy to join the others after being a remote extra (and IT guy) for so long. He had his own little setup in the small, cramped office, forgoing a desk (since another just simply wouldn't fit) out of a small table and the couch. It wasn't the greatest, but it was comfortable and he was included, and that was enough for him. Plus, he got to see more of the others that shared the office - including Gavin, allowing him to see more and more of the flowers that bloomed like magic from the lad.

Originally, Ryan didn’t take much stock when Gavin and Geoff huddled in Geoff's little corner of the room, the infamous idea book for Let's Plays being shared between them as Ryan caught brief glances of it. But, his attention was soon snatched by the bursts of white-flower clusters that blossomed all over Gavin's body, and the more he heard the Brit talking animatedly about an idea, the more would appear until they nearly obscured Gavin's face entirely. Ryan filed away the details of the flowers as Gavin and Geoff ended their session with apparent success; even if they hadn't, Gavin was covered with the flowers and Ryan doubted he'd be of use if he couldn't see or talk without them getting in the way.

Later that day, he translated those small little flowers, somewhat similar yet entirely different from the Houstonia, as Angelica -- flowers that apparently represented inspiration, and Ryan could definitely see that considering that Plan G had been brainstorming very intently. He chuckled and decided at that point, he'd keep a little notepad beside his desk, for the purpose of nothing but to record what flowers appeared on Gavin when Ryan saw him. Because, hell, Ryan was fascinated by the flowers and it was completely intriguing to watch the Brit grow them on par with his feelings. It made him almost an open book, which Ryan was sure that Gavin didn't always like, but something about it made Ryan feel like maybe it was a way to get closer to the younger man.

Ryan saw a lot of flowers from that point on. Amethyst dotted Gavin's body whenever he spoke to Burnie, and Ryan figured it was appropriate that they meant admiration, even after all these years of working alongside him. Another flower that bloomed during a Let's Play piqued Ryan's interest, rather lovely pops of yellow that he thought contrasted sharply with Gavin's intent: revenge on Ryan for stealing his gubbins. If Ryan didn't know better, he’d say that Gavin was very serious on the whole revenge thing by the tone of his voice. He figured as much when the Brit even told him so. Ryan realized that Gavin had actually been  _quite_  serious when he later found out that flowering plant was Birdsfoil Trefoil -- translated roughly as revenge, making Ryan laugh, knowing that they had faded once Gavin had retrieved his things.

On a particular day, Gavin came in late, and even if what was sprouting off of him wasn't anything to go by, Ryan could tell he was not in good mood in the slightest. His suspicions were confirmed when the Brit stayed rather distant for the entire day, especially since Geoff and his family were gone for a whole week without their lovable pseudo-son. Ryan felt bad, especially since no beautiful flowers sprung from Gavin's skin like usual- instead a variety of dull, morosely-colored mushrooms sprung up in their place. After a quick internet search, and a few misinterpretations to file through, Ryan found that the fungus seemed to stand for some feelings relating loneliness or solitude, and he could sympathize with that and why Gavin felt like that. So, even if Gavin didn't really want it, Ryan made it a point to go out of his way to hover about the younger man. He couldn't help but be happy when something other than the mushrooms peeked out from Gavin's skin, even barely, and he went to sleep later knowing the spicy-apricot smell of Agrimony meant gratefulness.

It might have been kind of odd, but Ryan bookmarked pages upon pages with flower meanings, and he wondered how they were so accurate, if they even were- perhaps Gavin hadn't been the only one of his kind? It was an interesting idea. Geoff had said there wasn't, and maybe that was true, but that didn't mean there hadn't been anyone like that before. It wasn't long before he realized that perhaps he was delving a little too deep -- after all, no one else seemed to bother knowing what Gavin's flowers meant, and he started to wonder if he was taking advantage of Gavin's abilities, especially since he could start to decipher what Gavin was feeling just with a passing glance to whatever was blooming on him. It reminded him of an empath; he simply couldn't help himself. Gavin Free interested him far too much.

During one VS, Michael challenged Geoff to a water pistol fight outside, and during their little setup (they were trying to find the perfect spot so the light wouldn't destroy the video quality entirely, which Ryan elected to not to care about) he found himself wandering on the grass speckled with clovers. With a minute or two of scanning, he almost couldn't believe when he had found a tiny little four-leaf clover in the midst of the rest, recalling the days when he would actually search for them for good luck. He crouched down next to it, carefully looking at it closer when he felt someone come up next to him.

"What are you doing?" Gavin asked curiously, squatting down to Ryan's level.

"Look, a four-leaf clover." Ryan pointed out with a smile, gently plucking it from its spot. "I haven't found one of these in years."

Gavin smiled back at him, and Ryan noted the Houstonia that started to bloom in small numbers, along with fuzzy-looking yellow blossoms he had seen before but hadn't looked up. He didn't think much over it, just noticing that Gavin seemed almost surprised when Ryan handed him the clover.

"You're giving it to me?"

"Yeah, what do you think I'm doing?" Ryan laughed in response, figuring that Gavin could use all the luck he could get at any given time- the man wasn't the most graceful on his feet.

The faintest of red that tinted Gavin's cheeks didn't go unnoticed, however, as Ryan watched in some kind of awe as the yellow blooms disappeared and were replaced by similar-looking lavender ones and suddenly, Gavin burst out in what seemed like hundreds of little four-leaf clovers all over his body.

Gavin got some flak for the clovers, being called "lucky charm" or "leprechaun" at various points for the rest of the day, but he didn't seem to mind all that much because they stayed, along with the lavender blossoms. Later that night when Ryan recalled them and went to find their meanings, he was happy to see that the yellow blooms were Acadia that symbolized friendship - he had wondered what the Brit had thought of him, especially since that little buzzer prank seemed to both open and close some doors between them. He was a little more surprised after through some more intensive searching and digging through his memory, that the purple blossoms were Mimosa, representing bashfulness or modesty, and he briefly wondered if he got the plant wrong or the translation was off, but as he realized what four-leaved clovers apparently meant, he could see why Mimosa would sprout.

Four-leaved clovers, as he found out, not only represented good luck, but also of love or in more specific terms- be mine. He had turned red at the realization, seeing why Gavin had blushed. Surely, if these "translations" were on the same page with Gavin, then Gavin might have had seen Ryan's gesture of handing over the clover as that. But Ryan hoped that Gavin would know that he hadn't meant it like that and he was just giving it to him for luck, because that was the truth. Ryan wasn't interested in Gavin like that.

Right?

Ryan groaned as he eventually came to the conclusion that perhaps that wasn't entirely true at all.

~~~~~

When warmer weather arrived, Gavin seemed in even higher spirits almost all the time. The young man seemed to effloresce himself, flowers and herbs and plants of all sorts popping up from his body. He didn't seem to mind, and frankly no one really did either. Ryan and Gavin seemed to be getting closer and closer, but one day Gavin burst into small sunflowers when Ryan did him a favor, and the older man just began to sneeze almost uncontrollably.

"Ryan?" Gavin asked worriedly after the fourth sneeze, flustered and blooming into more flowers that only had Ryan sneezing more.

"Don't worry," Ryan sniffed between sneezes, waving his hand. "It's just hay fever."

Except, it got to the point where Gavin stepped outside as Ryan was reduced to laying on the couch with a cold flannel over his eyes, and when Ryan was allowed to go home early he caught the flowers he identified as Peonies all over Gavin as he left. If only he could've told him it wasn't his fault, but he started sneezing again and Gavin scurried off before he could, more Peonies blossoming as he did. Ryan felt bad that Gavin felt guilty for it.

Luckily, with some medication and some nasal spray (that was only used when Ryan was alone in the office because God would he get shit for it), Ryan's allergies didn't act up nearly as bad. Now he was subject only to maybe one or two short sneezing fits a day. He supposed it also helped that with moving into the new office, Gavin's desk was now quite a fair bit away from his own. But he hadn't really minded the sneezing, though he noticed that Gavin seemed perhaps a little more self-conscious of his flowers as they bloomed throughout the day. At one point, Ryan excused himself from the room to start sneezing, grabbing some tissues that were in the adjoining office and when he came back, he noticed Gavin in his corner plucking out the small blooms with an annoyed look on his face. He forwent returning to his desk to talk with Gavin instead.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Ryan asked sincerely, standing behind Gavin and he was apparently stealthy enough coming over that the Brit jumped in his seat.

"No..."

Ryan didn't even have to glance at whatever might've been blooming atop of Gavin's head to tell that he was lying, and he sighed. When he did look at what was growing, it was a mix of lovely lavender flowers that almost looked as though they were a burst of petals, but their stems lacked that same vivacity. He noticed berries starting to form and again nothing he recognized, and since he could plainly tell Gavin had a reason for forcibly removing the buds as they grew, he put a comforting hand on the younger man's arm.

"You know, you can talk to me about whatever, Gav?" Ryan told him in earnest, quiet so Ray wouldn't be distracted. Gavin averted his eyes, as if trying not to acknowledge Ryan's presence at all.

Except it seemed that his body did, and Ryan had been too intent on reading Gavin's face to notice the vines quickly crawling up his arm - he had figured that the feeling was simply the flowers brushing across his skin and not the woody tendrils climbing over him. When they started to constrict, however, he definitely noticed, blinking in surprise even though Gavin seemed unaware.

"I don't want to talk about it..." Gavin mumbled, still oblivious, and Ryan watched as Peonies started to flower alongside the purple ones and the berries. "You can leave."

"I can't."

Gavin sighed. "No, really, it's fine-"

"No, Gavin, I literally can't."

Gavin finally turned his head to face Ryan and saw what the older man had meant. The vines had crawled out of the sleeve of his t-shirt and enveloped Ryan's forearm without him even noticing, and he hissed a curse under his breath.

Ryan’s eyes stayed on Gavin, and as soon as Gavin grabbed the tendrils with every intention to yank them away and snap them from Ryan, he immediately used his free hand to grab his wrist.

"If it hurts, then I don't want you to pull on them. I can wait it out."

Gavin seemed baffled by Ryan's response, letting go of the vines and blinking up at the older man owlishly with his green doe-eyes.

"Honestly." Ryan added, as if addressing the unasked question that was held in Gavin's eyes.

He tugged over Michael's empty chair with a careful effort and sat down, very cautious as to not harm the vines in any way.

"Is this okay?" He questioned, wanting to make sure that Gavin was comfortable, because they were both stuck like that until the vines eventually receded, and even Gavin didn't know when they would.

"Yeah, it's... It's fine." Gavin's cheeks tinted a rosy pink and he swallowed audibly, turning back to his work despite Ryan being literally attached to him at the arm.

Ryan watched with mild interest the editing that Gavin was doing, albeit it being slow, but he was more focused on observing the flowers and berries that peppered Gavin's body. The lavender ones were still there, but less in abundance, along with the berries that seemed to be disappearing by the minute. He hadn't known what those meant, but other than the lingering Peonies he did notice a flower he recognized without any need to look it up. Lilacs flourished atop of Gavin's head, almost seeming to grow in number as compared to the others. Ryan racked his memory, faintly recalling seeing their meaning somewhere but coming up with nothing before he realized Gavin was staring right at him.

Immediately, Ryan felt a surge of embarrassment at being caught, his eyes quickly shifting away as he felt his face heat up. Wait, what? He wasn't one to get flustered, much less blush at someone's eyes on him- so why was Gavin different?

"Ryan?" Gavin snapped his attention back to him. "Are you okay? You're not having a bloody allergic reaction, are you-?"

Gavin's hand went up to tendrils again, and Ryan quickly stopped him for a second time.

"No, I'm fine, I was thinking." He blurted out, a little less eloquent than usual, and he noted that suddenly he lost a lot of finesse at his hastiness to answer. Gavin seemed to notice, a certain look crossing his features.

"About...?"

"About your flowers." Ryan admitted before he could stop himself; now that his mouth had opened he was like a running facet.

It was Gavin's turn for his cheeks to burn, and he held back a reply for just a moment longer before he decidedly seemed to toss the thought away.

"What about them?" He asked instead, his eyes meeting Ryan's again.

"Well... It's amazing to see all the things you can grow, from these Peonies, to the clovers, to the mushrooms to the Gooseberries..."

Ryan trailed off once he realized he was rambling, and cleared his throat. Gavin seemed frozen, and had it not been for the fact that the Lilacs seemed to flourish suddenly, Ryan would have worried he had broken him entirely.

"You know what these flowers are?" The Brit licked his lips after a moment of silence, eyes seemingly searching Ryan for something.

"Just the Peonies and the Lilacs." Ryan replied, brushing his fingertips over a Peony that had bloomed right next to the tendrils that had flushed their arms together.

Speaking of the vines, Ryan wiggled his arm experimentally, and to his surprise the tendrils were loose and light, barely gripping anymore and he found Gavin quickly moving his arm so Ryan could be detangled. Ryan instantly missed the contact, and he easily caught the flowers he hadn't seen in quite a long time, at least not around himself - the Sweet Peas; the pinkish-purple cute little flowers that before he'd encourage the growth of with jokes and offhandedly playful and suggestive comments just for the sake of seeing them. After a time, however, they went away on their own around Ryan, and he had figured it was just Gavin getting used to him. Ryan hadn't realized he had said the name out loud until he watched the flowers and the vines start to droop unmanageably down over Gavin's face, and Gavin inquired a little more forcibly how Ryan knew that.

Ryan's mind went for a loop -- he couldn't quite just confess that he'd been studying flowers so he could know what Gavin felt, that would make him look more like a creep, and not his "Mad King" persona kind. Instead he shrugged, a fake smirk on his lips.

"What, you sound surprised that I know flowers?" It wasn't his most convincing acting; no, not with those emerald eyes staring him down almost accusingly. "Why?"

Gavin didn't answer, instead just sighing suddenly and turning away, something akin to hurt crossing his face. Ryan didn't know what he did but realized as soon as the Peonies and the Lilacs were replaced by small branches covered in bunches of fuchsia flowers that somehow he fucked up, and he was at a loss for words as Gavin returned to his work. Biting his lip, he forced himself out of the chair and back to his desk.

The first and only flowers he looked up later were the fuchsia ones. After Gavin's reaction, how could he not?

Ryan had buried his head in his hands when he finally figured them out and their meaning. Judas Tree -- Betrayal. Gavin knew, because Ryan ran his mouth that he was looking up what the flowers were. Sure, it could have been innocent curiosity of just what the flowers were, but Ryan knew Gavin wasn't an idiot. Gavin would know that Ryan wouldn't suffice with just that, instead delving into the meanings of the plants. Meaning Ryan had a right that no one should - knowing Gavin's emotions with just a glance of the flowers,  _including_  ones that the Brit wouldn't want to be known.

Ryan instantly felt guilty and frustrated; Gavin figured it out by himself and now, at least according to anything he could find, felt betrayed by Ryan going behind his back to be able to read the Brit like an open book. The feeling of guilt was so strong, that soon the little bookmarks on the webpages about flowers were gone, the notepad disposed of, and Ryan's enthusiasm promptly curbed.

He was no longer going to take every little plant that sprouted on Gavin and try to figure it out and what it meant, and maybe the Brit would forgive him. He just hoped it wasn't too late to make it up to Gavin.

~~~~~

It proved harder than he thought. Seeing Gavin the next day and just momentarily catching his eye was enough to have the lad bud flowers that Ryan hadn't seen before. Ryan refused to let his eyes wander to them, focusing on nothing but the work in front of him for almost the entire day: throughout the Let's Play, throughout the GO! and throughout the VS. He managed to bring himself from engaging too heavily with Gavin and even avoided eye contact for the entirety of the time, after a lot of declining lunch invitations and other little interactions with the others.

He just needed to keep himself preoccupied until he could manage to not let his curiosity get the best of him. He was almost proud of himself when he saw a seemingly-familiar flower on the carpet, dropped by Gavin likely, and he couldn't identify it and he'd stopped the thought to look it up. He'd just have to unlearn all the flowers' meanings and then they'd be all right. Right?

After about a week of steeling himself, Ryan came into the office to find a yellow rose on his desk. He stared at it stupidly, glancing around the office. Jack noticed his curious sweep of the room and shrugged off his headphones.

"What's the matter?" The bearded man asked, and Ryan acknowledged him curtly.

"Who put this rose on my desk?" He countered with another question, and to his surprise Jack just shrugged.

"We got mail this morning and Ray got some red roses himself, maybe they got a yellow rose for you too."

Ryan nodded his head and turned his attention to the rose. It was a sweet sentiment, he supposed, but he found it odd- unlike Ray's roses, his single rose was potted with care. After a moment of thinking about it, he sighed and decided not to dwell on the why as he sat down.

An upside to distancing himself from seemingly everyone was that they just accounted it on him feeling under the weather. Which meant more leaving him alone, probably since they figured he might be contagious or something along those lines. So no one really bothered him from editing, and he wound up getting ahead in his work so much that he actually finished his entire current workload for the next day or so. He wasn't rushed, wasn't stressed over deadlines. He was entirely free to finish what he had left to do at any leisurely pace he desired. When he realized that as the last video rendered, he leaned back in his chair with a tired sigh.

"Done." Ryan muttered to himself before shifting back, the yellow rose catching his eye.

He licked his lips and gently ghosted his fingers over the flower, taking notice that it had been grown with great care and had he not known better, he'd say it was the most perfect rose he'd seen. His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to think of its meaning, but he quickly shut that thought down. It was just a yellow rose, just a nice sentiment. Nothing more, as far as he was concerned. At least now, anyway.

Ryan eventually started to acknowledge everyone a bit more after a night of mulling over how he was acting, using Ray's excuse of being tired as the cause as he even managed to get himself to look Gavin's way. He still restrained himself from letting the flowers be the things to hold his attention, and when he spoke to Gavin he did so in earnest- looking him straight in the eyes and past the plants entirely. There seemed to be a return to normalcy, at least for the most part, with everything.

But Ryan couldn't help but feel that every time he spoke to Gavin, the Brit seemed to have some sort of expectant glint in his eye, and when Ryan didn't apparently say what he wanted to hear, either disappointment or frustration gleamed instead. Obviously, flowers and herbs and vines of sorts grew akin to whatever it was, but after the Judas Tree flowers, Ryan couldn't bring himself to see if his instincts were right. So, he decided if Gavin had something to say, then he would let him get to it himself.

It took almost an entire week for Gavin to stew until he finally decided to address it. They were recording a Minecraft Let's Play, and that week it required pairs of two to team up, and this time Lindsay was a part of the action. Geoff abstained from playing, as he created the game and instead took part as host over whatever they were doing.

Ryan wondered faintly who he'd get partnered up with, but he made no effort to establish a team as he watched the others. Naturally, Gavin had turned to Michael, but before the Brit could even open his mouth, Michael and his wife had already declared themselves on a team. It wasn't all surprising, honestly, but as Jack quickly claimed Ray- saying something about how Ray was actually good- Ryan found himself meeting eyes with Gavin. A smirk formed on his face as he quirked a brow towards the lad.

"I guess that leaves Team Love and Stuff, then?" Gavin blinked, before breaking out a small smile and nodding before returning his gaze back to his screen.

Apparently, Gavin was itching to say something as soon as Ray declared he had a rose, because he instantly spoke.

"Do you know what a rose means?"

It was an odd question, sure, and it was enough for a curious expression to cross Ryan's face as he focused on his screen.

"Love, right? Cause everyone loves me!" Ray laughed good-heartedly, getting a few chuckles along with his own.

"Well, yeah, but they mean other things too, you mong!" Gavin started, squeaking a little with laughter as he shook his head.

"Why do you mention it?" Jack murmured, half-immersed in the game already but still listening to Gavin nevertheless.

"I dunno, just wondered if you guys knew some of the others. Like what orange roses meant."

"Orange roses? I've never even seen orange roses." Michael interjected, leaning back in his chair as his eyes stayed on the screen.

"Well, those mean enthusiasm. I think they'd be a lot more bloody fitting for X-Ray and all more than red ones."

Ryan furrowed his brow a little in thought.

"Pink ones mean friendship, and yellow ones mean forgive and forget."

That caught Ryan's attention in particular, and he turned in his chair towards Gavin, only to catch the younger man wink in his direction before looking away. Ryan blinked as the subject was very quickly changed, and it took a nudge from Geoff to get him talking again. Gavin proved himself within a few minutes to not be the best teammate, managing to let them get cornered and all of their supplies taken as the first blood of the game. Of course, Ryan playfully berated him as Gavin whined and blamed it on Michael and Lindsay's brutality, and they fell into the usual banter throughout the entire recording, but it didn't stop Ryan from thinking.

Ryan wouldn't admit that he was a little thankful for ending the Let's Play- he pretty much was for any of them but the gears and cogs in his head had been turning throughout the recording and it proved hard to think while he was busy with the game. So, when it was all said and done, that left him free to his thoughts- which immediately went to the still somehow living yellow rose sitting in the small pot on his desk. He had left it there, careful to give it water daily and even though the lack of light was a problem it seemed to survive regardless. But that wasn't what was on his mind. No, it was the fact that Gavin very blatantly outed himself as the giver of the flower.

He stared at if for a few moments, as if thinking what Gavin meant by forgive and forget- but he very well knew that it had to be the Judas Tree incident. Because, well, when else had Ryan done something that Gavin would feel the need to say it was in the past? It took some weight off his shoulders, sure, but that wasn’t much. It did, however, make him feel bad for not apologizing or explaining himself, he knew it was probably wrong no matter how he'd put it – it  _was_  wrong of him anyway. It was nice to know that Gavin forgave him though. He sighed a little, brushing his thumb gently over the thorny stem, before he stood up to go to the kitchen.

It was just a bit closer to the Achievement Hunter's room than in the older office, it felt odd but Ryan wasn't about to complain if it meant that he got space to join the other Achievement Hunters in one office without it being cramped like a clown car. He opened the fridge like clockwork, opening the first Diet Coke in sight and closing the door with his foot, eyes on the soda as he popped open the tab.

Instead of bringing it to his lips for a swig, Ryan nearly jumped when the soda fizzed everywhere, onto his shirt and over his hand as he moved to avoid the rest of it that spilled over the brim. He wondered if he had somehow shaken it when he heard an uproar of laughter, turning his head to see Gavin and Kerry, both snickering as Ryan looked at them with a less than amused glare.

Gavin squawked loudly and the two troublemakers bolted as soon as Ryan set the can down, and while Ryan wanted to hunt the both of them down, he knew he had to make a decision. Gavin was the clear choice as he ran towards the exit, Kerry retreating somewhere further in the studio which he knew far better than Ryan did.

So, it was as if it was a rerun of the Darwin Awards-- sans the bananas and video recording- Ryan chasing Gavin out of the studio and out into the parking lot. Ryan didn't plan on necessarily doing anything to the Brit other than running him a little ragged like usual.

Except about a halfway through the huge parking lot, he completely wiped out over a curb he hadn't even noticed. Gavin hadn't heard and kept running off regardless.

"Goddammit..." Ryan muttered, looking down at his scraped up hands and shaking them as they began to sting.

He moved to stand up but gasped when his knee locked and a sharp pain went through it and he quickly moved back down to the ground, clutching it.

"Shit, what am I, sixty?" He cursed, crawling into a more comfortable position on the asphalt before looking around.

He had left his phone on his desk considering he had only left the office to get a drink, so Ryan was on his own- for the most part. Ryan groaned a little bit at the thought. How much shit would he get for this?

"Gavin!" He called, waiting for an answer.

A minute ticked by and no response, so he shouted out again. And again. And again. Nothing. He immediately blamed it on the studio parking lot just being so damn big- Gavin must've noticed Ryan not chasing him at one point and probably figured he went back inside; thinking Ryan had stopped. Great.

Ryan huffed out a frustrated grunt as he pushed himself onto one leg, testing his weight on the other before snapping it back as if it had touched lava. A few more profanities under his breath and he was ready to go, more or less.

Much to Ryan's relief, with the time it was taking him to hobble and hop back, someone seemed to notice he was gone- thus prompting a little search party for him. His head snapped up at his name, and he immediately sat down on the nearest curb, calling back. He wasn't going to try and walk on it himself if he could help it, as far as he could tell he very well could've torn his meniscus or something. He didn't know a lot about those sort of things. To his surprise, it was indeed Gavin who found him first, curiosity striking his features before seeing Ryan holding his knee.

"What happened?" The Brit asked quickly, moving beside him as the gent grunted in an attempt to stand up.

"You didn't notice me completely wipe out behind you? I think I fucked up my knee." Ryan explained, his eyebrow quirking in its usual manner up at Gavin.

Something started to bloom from Gavin's skin, but Ryan focused on the expression the younger man was making instead. Something akin to worry painted his face, and he moved to help Ryan to his feet. After a moment of fiddling, he managed to.

"Can you walk?"

"More or less... Why don't you get Geoff or something?" Ryan suggested, using Gavin as a support but finding his smaller structure not easy to lean on without an effort from the Brit.

"Okay, wait here-" Gavin started to move away, only to find that once more, they were stuck together by a flurry of vines. They had appeared much quicker than before, and even Gavin seemed alarmed at the rate they were still growing. Even with his effort, Gavin couldn't move away from Ryan if he tried.

"Shit."

"Don't you have your phone on you?"

"No! Don't you?"

"I wouldn't have been limping out here on my own if I had!" Ryan retorted, throwing up his free arm. Gavin rolled his eyes and let out a hefty sigh.

"Well, I guess we'll try to hobble back together then." Ryan let out a huff, but resigned to it with a nod of his head.

The vines had plastered their arms together; Gavin's left arm pressed against Ryan's right one.

"At least if I fall over, I'm taking you down with me."

"Hey!"

Gavin's outcry earned him that fate, with a jerk of the entwined arm their whole balance was thrown off-kilter, and Ryan wobbled for a second before he went down, Gavin being yanked down with him. Ryan tried to hold his tongue but he couldn't help but to laugh as he saw Gavin's disgruntled face on top of him.

"Told you so."

Gavin tried to push himself off of Ryan's chest, letting out a panicked noise when the vines simply wouldn't let him- and effectively latched them together, almost chest to chest.

"Are they going to fucking eat us or something?" Ryan commented idly, a teasing smile still managing to find its way onto his lips. He, oddly enough, didn't seem too fazed by it.

"Well, I dunno, why don't you tell me, Ryan the plant guy?" Gavin snapped back, his tone perhaps harsher than he had intended, but Ryan let it roll off his back.

"Well, are they carnivorous? Never really heard of carnivorous vines, honestly, but I suppose there is a lot of plants I don't know about." Gavin cocked a brow, and Ryan noticed the distinct red tint to his cheeks.

"But you were looking up what all the flowers that were growing on me, you bloody tosser!"

"And I stopped because that was a shitty thing to do! At least, how far I looked into that stuff." Ryan replied curtly, a subtle shrug of his shoulders accompanying his response.

Gavin didn't answer back, instead laying his head against Ryan and letting out a huff, defeated. In the quiet, Gavin faintly heard the thrum of Ryan's heartbeat in his ear.

"If you fall asleep I swear I'll put you in a hole."

Gavin laughed at that, half from what Ryan actually said and half from the vibrations that reverberated through him when Ryan had spoken.

"I'm sorry for doing that, by the way."

"What, putting me in a hole?"

"Nah, I haven't done that..." Ryan trailed off idly, before adding: "Yet."

"Jesus, Ryan."

"I meant for the whole me-looking-up-plant-meanings fiasco. I'm trying to unlearn them, honestly. It isn't fair to you at all." The older man told him with a sincerity in his voice, and he was surprised to receive a frown directed up at him.

But what surprised him more was perhaps Gavin's response--

"No, I liked it."

Ryan's jaw slacked in bewilderment; what was Gavin going on about? Certainly, no one wanted to be an open book-

"You noticing them and bloody doing all that meant you were paying attention to me."

With Gavin laying on his chest, the admission seemed too intimate and too personal, especially the way Gavin's face flushed as soon as he had spoken the words. Ryan watched as purple roses sprang to life, blooming on Gavin's head and across the vines, and he didn't have to look it up to have a notion of what the flowers meant this time. Especially when Gavin's cheeks burned red as he saw them too and he let his head fall against Ryan's shoulder with a groan.

"Bloody hell..." Ryan couldn't help but laugh, his laugh reverberating in his chest.

"Why didn't you just say something?" He asked when Gavin glanced up to him, and watched as the Brit found the car next to them far more interesting than answering. "I thought you hated me when you found out what I was doing-- I mean, the Judas Tree and everything-"

"I was upset, at first." Gavin interrupted with a sigh. "I was, because yeah, you could just know what I felt at any given moment! But... I figured that wasn't what you were trying to do. At least intentionally. Right...?" Gavin looked to Ryan with hopeful eyes, and Ryan's breath caught in his throat involuntarily.

"I was just interested in the flowers... but my curiosity ran a little deeper than it should have. I didn't intend to have that power over you." Ryan replied earnestly, eyes softening. "Honestly, I just wanted to know you better."

Gavin made some small noise and Ryan blinked as Peonies came to bloom alongside the roses.

"Ah, those are familiar." The comment made more blossom, and with even with his futile effort to hide, Gavin's blush was visible.

Ryan took stock of the situation again, feeling his own face heat up. Trying to shake his mind from it, he looked down at Gavin and felt everything stop as he met wide, forest-green eyes staring at him- and it was as if every thought in his head fizzled out and he made a startling revelation that perhaps his feelings for the man on top of him ran even deeper than he realized.

It wasn't a conscious decision to grab Gavin's chin gently, nor was the movement to close the space between their faces. Ryan could say he was honestly as surprised as Gavin was when his lips pressed against Gavin's, faintly aware of his heart racing wildly in his chest. It wasn't more than a few seconds, but when Ryan pulled away it was like all the breath was taken from him, and he was met with equally wide eyes looking back at him.

"I-I don't know why I did that. I'm sorry-"

Ryan stopped as he saw yellow tulips spring from Gavin immediately, overtaking the Peonies and roses and Ryan just watched the cogs turn in Gavin's head as the younger man just stared. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but suddenly Gavin's lips were on him again and he felt tendrils curl softly against his skin. With his free arm, he pressed Gavin closer, kissing him back with a fervor as petals and leaves brushed against his skin.

"Welp."

The two startled away from each other, at least as much as they could, as their heads snapped towards Ray. His smile was somewhere between a sheepish one and a shit-eating one.

"Hi."

Ryan didn't know how to feel about Ray showing up, but taking one look at Gavin he knew that the lad was feeling more than enough embarrassment for the both of them, as there were more patches of flowers and vines than visible skin. At least it wasn't Michael or Geoff, because Ray didn't make any remark. Instead he just shook his head at the sight of them.

“Need any help? Or should I get Geoff?" Ray asked, with an odd sincerity- he must've noticed the two were quite literally attached to each other.

"No, you- you sausage!" Gavin squawked, flustered, and even with the blooms overhanging in his eyes Ryan could tell he was trying his best to muster a glare.

"Thank you though, Ray." Ryan added as an afterword, knowing very well Ray could easily just go get Geoff or Michael to come and laugh.

"Well, I'll leave you two be. Figure this the fuck out while I tell Geoff some bullshit excuse."

"Thanks."

"Whatever, assholes." He left with a laugh, brushing the whole thing off his shoulders like it wasn't a big deal. Which, in all honesty, was more than a big relief for both of them. They both sat for a few moments in silence.

"Well, that happened."

That earned a laugh from Gavin, and Ryan felt a smile spread across his face.

"So, you kissed me back?"

"Yeah, but you kissed me first!"

"I suppose that's true." Ryan chuckled, watching as Gavin attempted to blow his plant-bangs out of his eyes.

"...Did you mean it?" His voice was smaller, more... hesitant than before, and Ryan stopped laughing, a softer expression on his face now.

"Of course I did. You're amazing beyond your flowers, too, you know?"

It was an accidentally cheesy line that spilled from his lips, but Ryan didn't even think twice about saying it. Either way, Gavin didn’t groan or roll his eyes like he expected him to once he processed the words himself, instead burying his face into Ryan's neck.

The yellow tulips, much to Ryan's surprise, changed to a stark red, and Gavin let out a small noise. Ryan seemed to understand that Gavin was perhaps beyond embarrassed, a state that was already impossibly rare, as he wouldn't lift his face from the safety of the crook of Ryan's neck.

"Can I kiss you again?" Ryan could feel the hot puff of air on his skin at his question, refraining from letting a shiver run down his spine.

"Definitely." Gavin said with his usual confidence, and while Ryan was happy about it- he could tell that Gavin still was worried about being in a relationship just by the way he lingered, unsure. But kissing didn't have to lead to it if Gavin didn't want to, and Ryan had the intent to tell him that after he kissed the lad senseless.

Cupping the Brit's face in his hand, he brushed away the stray blooms before pressing his lips against Gavin's in a kiss gentler than the last. Gavin melted into him, pressing Ryan into the ground in the best of ways as he kissed back eagerly. It was endearing the way he did; Ryan mused, thinking about how always in the moment Gavin was and how much passion he put behind his actions because of it.

Both of them pulled away with wide grins across their faces, and though the rest of Gavin still seemed to flourish with flora, the vines seemed to have started to retreat. Carefully, they managed to coordinate getting back onto their feet, Gavin seemingly not bothered by the constant contact anymore. But, they were still stuck together and Ryan's knee was still a problem.

"We shouldn't have had Ray leave."

"He was ruining the bloody moment!" Gavin retorted with a half-squawk, earning a laugh from Ryan.

"Well, I'll make it up to you." Ryan told him, ducking his head to kiss Gavin's cheek. Gavin shut his mouth about it.

By the time they had gotten back to the office, the vines hadn’t quite untangled enough to free them, but this time Gavin had decided to be a little more help by letting Ryan lean on him as they walked.

"Welcome back!" Ray greeted them, a large grin on his face and a mischievous glint in his eye as he leaned back in his chair- but he simply left it at that when all he got in return were two level stares as the two stopped just past the door.

The three jumped at the sound of someone in the doorway clearing their throat. Gavin and Ryan hobbled forward clumsily, heads knocking slightly into each other as they tried to look over their shoulders. Ray let out an innocent whistle and turned back to his monitor. That left the two entwined men to turn and find a slightly stricken Geoff who stared at the vines that weaved them together. The older man’s eyes flickered to the slowly receding flowers on Gavin’s head, and Ryan could’ve sworn he could see the cogs in Geoff’s head turning.

“So, uh, you two banging yet?”   
  
“Geoff!” Gavin squawked out, face scrunched up in indignation, but bright red all the same. Ryan felt the color rise to his own cheeks, and Geoff seemed to take that as an answer.

“It’s about time, you two idiots have been dancing around each other for ages. Gav pretty much molted flowers every time he talked about you. ‘Oh, lovely Ryan!’” Geoff ignored Gavin’s shouting, turning away from the pair with a cheeky smile as Gavin tried to hit him and nearly teetered himself and Ryan over again. Ryan tugged him back close, reveling in the smile he shared with the Brit. It was a nice moment until Geoff decided to ruin it.

"Are you guys just going to give each other bed room eyes all day or can we get to work? How did you even wind up like that?”

The two looked sheepishly at each other, having forgotten about the injury that had initially gotten them in this mess. “I wiped out chasing Gavin in the parking lot, and when he came to help we got stuck.” Ryan craned his neck to look at Gavin, a smile splitting his lips. "I guess we probably should get untangled. But the bed room eyes are here to stay, Geoff."

Gavin let out another flustered noise while Geoff only groaned at the display, moving to his setup mumbling under his breath “Great.”

But Ryan didn’t pay it any mind, the smile fixed on his face as he looked at Gavin and all his flowery features. A warmth bubbled up in his chest as Gavin just smiled back, and Ryan hoped he would be seeing that smile and those flowers for a very long time.


End file.
